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Staff Profile

Professor Volker Pickert

Professor of Power Electronics

  • Telephone: +44 (0) 191 208 6684
  • Address: Newcastle University
    School of Engineering
    Merz Court
    Newcastle upon Tyne
    NE1 7RU, UK
Background

Background

Professor Pickert is a highly accomplished academic and industrial leader in the field of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, specializing in Power Electronics, Propulsion, Energy Storage and Green & Sustainable Energy and Transport.


Professor Pickert earned his degrees in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from the University of Science and Technology (RWTH) Aachen, Germany, and the University of Cambridge, UK. During his studies, he gained early experience in hybrid electric vehicles at the Institute of Automotive Systems (IKA) in Aachen. Following his graduation, he was awarded a three-year PhD scholarship from Newcastle University to pursue research in power electronics.


After completing his PhD, Professor Pickert spent six years in industry, making significant contributions to automotive power systems.

  • Semikron GmbH (1998–1999): He began as an Application Engineer and later served as a Product Manager.
  • Volkswagen Group (1999–2003): He served as the Group Leader for electric power drive trains for electric and fuel cell vehicles, where he was responsible for power electronics, electric drives, and overall vehicle electrical systems.


Professor Pickert returned to Newcastle University in October 2003 as a Senior Lecturer and was promoted to Professor of Power Electronics in 2011. His subsequent leadership roles have dramatically expanded the university’s research capacity:

  • Head of the Electrical Power Group (from 2012-2020): Within eight years, he oversaw exponential growth, doubling the number of awarded projects and published articles, and quadrupling the group’s research income to manage over 100 researchers.
  • EPSRC Doctoral Training Centre Director (from 2019): He leads this centre, which trains over 50 PhD students in Sustainable Electric Propulsion.
  • Director of Discipline for Electrical and Electronic Engineering (from 2020-2023): He was appointed the inaugural Director, coordinating all teaching and research within the discipline.
  • Driving the Electric Revolution Industrialisation Centre (from 2025): He took on a second directorship, now heading this major centre to support industry and academia with the latest electric drive manufacturing needs.



MAJOR ACHIEVEMENTS 


  • Summary:
  • Total value received from grants and contracts: £30.8M. 
  • Number of received funded projects: 76; 47 of them I am the Principal Investigator. 
  • Number of publications and presentations: 244. 
  • Number of total past/active main supervised Research Associates & PhD students: 51. 
  • Number of students lectured in 2024: 66. 
  • Number of major prizes/awards and keynotes: 9. 


  • Major Management Roles:
  • 8 years - Head of Electrical Power Group (14 academic staff, 34 Research Associates, 65 PhD students).
  • 3 year - Director of Discipline for Electric and Electronic Engineering (40 academic staff).


  • Leadership: 
  • As DPD I grow the MSc programme Electrical Power from 8 students in 2003 to 62 students in 2010 bringing in significant income to the School. 
  • In 2019 I became Director of the £8.7M EPSRC Doctoral Training Centre in Sustainable Electric Propulsion training 52 PhD students. 
  • In 2020 I became the Director of Discipline for Electrical and Electronic Engineering managing 40 academic staff.  
  • In 2021 I established the £3.5M GKN Automotive Advanced Research Centre
  • In 2025 I became the Director for the Driving the Electric Revolution Industrialisation Centre (DER-IC) Newcastle University. 


  • Research Impact:
  • My research on chip temperature estimation is now implemented in all Emerson high performance electric drives manufactured in the UK (so far 250,000 units are produced). The Faculty filed this achievement as a possible Impact Case for the next coming REF. 
  • My article on highly efficient wave power generation was awarded with the prestigious Denny Medal from IMarEST for the best journal paper in 2011 in Marine applications. 
  • My research on dynamic road charging has won the Net Zero sustainable award from the REECE foundation. Based on the work we were invited to join the ISO TC268/SC2 ERS Working Group which defined the global standard for electric road supplies.  


  • Teaching:
  • In 2011 and in 2017 I was nominated for the “Best Lecturer of the Year” award within the Faculty of Science and Engineering.
  • I wrote the Industrial Project Guideline Handbook that has become the master template for all Schools within Newcastle University raising teaching standards.


  • Esteem:
  • Since 2014, I have served as the Editor-in-Chief of the IET Power Electronics journal, managing a team of 60 editors. In 2019, I received the IET Outstanding Editor-in-Chief award for successfully elevating the journal to a Q1 ranking. 
  • Conference chair of 3 major conferences: IEEE ECCE Europe 2025, CPE 2024, IET PEMD 2011.   
  • Academic lead on strategy papers such as “The UK Power Electronics Opportunity -A strategic position paper for UK industry-“ and “The All-Electric Society - Enabled by Power Electronics”. 
  • Advisory panel of IET flagship event: World first TTXGP electric motor bike racing at the famous TT racing event. 
  • Selection of invited keynotes: (IEEE ITEC), Dearborn, Michigan, 2015, (IEEE ITEC-Pacific), Bangkok, Thailand, 2018, (17th UK Heat Transfer Conference), Manchester, UK, 2022


 

MAJOR AWARDS AND PRIZES

 

01/1994 I was the 1st exchange student between the Institute of Power Electronics and Electric Drives (Prof. Skudelny), RWTH Aachen University and the Department of Electrical Engineering

(Prof Williamson), Cambridge University. 

09/1994 Received a full PhD studentship from Newcastle University Research Council. 

11/2011 Denny Medal Award for most worthy paper published in the Journal of Marine Engineering and Technology. The Denny Medal is awarded annually since 1893 from the Institute

of Marine Engineering, Science & Technology (IMarEST).  

09/2013 Innovation of the Year Award for “Intelligent Gate Drive Design for High-Reliability Power Electronic Devices” from SaGE Faculty. 

07/2018 My research team won the European Siemens Power Electronics Tapas Challenge competing against 230 other institutions in Europe.   

08/2018 Best Paper Award at IEEE International Conference on Computing Electronics & Communications Engineering (iCCECE), Essex, UK. 

09/2019 Received The IET Outstanding Editor-in-Chief Award for excellent management of the IET Power Electronics journal. 

05/2023 My PhD student Saleh Ali was awarded for the best PhD research in the Net Zero PhD Student Competition sponsored by the REECE Foundation. The foundation promotes engineering

and manufacturing. He received £10k. 

06/2023 My paper, Operation of Inductive Charging Systems under Misalignment Conditions: A Review for Electric Vehicles, was the most accessed article in IEEE Transactions on Transportation Electrification in that month (52 downloads per day) and topped first in the IEEE journal.   

08/2023 My IET Senior Editorial Team and I received the 2022 IET Senior Editorial Board Award. 

06/2025 Named Top Scholar by ScholarGPS in the field of Electrical and Computer Science (top 0.5%).  


 

 ORGANISATION OF CONFERENCES, SYMPOSIA, COLLOQUIA AND TUTORIALS

 

A.     Conference chairman

 

  • IET Power Electronics, Machines and Drives Conference (PEMD), Brighton, April 2010 (320 delegates). 
  • IET conference workshop on “Electric Vehicles – the journey from power station to wheel“, Birmingham, August 2011 (90 delegates). 
  • European Centre for Power Electronics (ECPE) on Availability on Power Electronics in Automotive and Aircrafts, Stuttgart, July 2019 (100 delegates). 
  • Centre for Power Electronics Annual Conference (CPE), Newcastle, 8-9 July 2024, (220 delegates).  
  • IEEE Energy Conversion Congress and Expo (ECCE-Europe), Birmingham, 31st August -4th September 2025 (750 delegates). 


 

B.     Mayor Keynotes

  • More Electric Transport – Activities in the UK, IEEE Transportation Electrification Conference & Expo (ITEC), Dearborn, Michigan, 14-17 June 2015. 

 

  • Tracked Electric Vehicles (TEV) Project, IEEE Transportation Electrification Conference and Expo Asia-Pacific (ITEC Asia-Pacific), Bangkok, Thailand, 06-09 June 2018. 

 

  • Present and Future of Fault Tolerant Drives applied to Transport Applications, IEEE International conference on Integrated Power Electronics systems (CIPS), Berlin, Germany, 24-26 March 2020. 

 

  • Static and Dynamic Electric Vehicles Charging – A quick journey through charging technologies, The 3rd International Conference on Information Technologies and Electrical Engineering (ICITEE 2020), Changde, Hunan, China, December 2020. 

 

  • Liquid Metal more than cooling?, 17th UK Heat Transfer Conference (UKHTC2021), Manchester, UK, 4-6 April 2022. 

 

  • Liquid metal as an enabler for multi-objective approaches in power electronics, The 3rd International Symposium on New Energy and Electrical Technology (ISNEET 2022), Henan Anyang, China, 25-27 August 2022. 

 

  • Plugging into the Future: The Evolution of EV Charging, 3rd International Conference on Energy, Power, Environment, Control and Computing (ICEPECC 2025), Gujrat, Pakistan, 19-20 February 2025.   


 C.    Session chair 

 

  • Power Electronics, Machines and Drives Conference (PEMD), Dublin, April 2006. 
  • 2nd European Ele-Drive Transportation Conference (EET), Brussels, May 2007. 
  • Power Electronics, Machines and Drives Conference (PEMD), York, May 2008. 
  • Power Conversion Intelligent Motion, (PCIM), Nuremberg, May 2009. 
  • Power Conversion Intelligent Motion, (PCIM), Nuremberg, May 2011. 
  • 14th European Conference on Power Electronics and Applications (EPE), Birmingham, August/September 2011. 
  • Power Electronics, Machines and Drives Conference (PEMD), Birmingham, May 2012. 
  • IET Hybrid and Electric Vehicles Conference 2013 (HEVC), London, November 2013. 
  • Power Conversion Intelligent Motion (PCIM), Nuremberg, May 2015. 
  • Power Electronics, Machines and Drives Conference (PEMD), Liverpool, April 2018. 
  • IEEE Transportation Electrification Conference and Expo Asia-Pacific (ITEC Asia-Pacific), June 2018. 
  • Power Electronics, Machines and Drives Conference (PEMD), Newcastle, June 2022. 
  • IEEE Energy Conversion Congress and Expo (ECCE-Europe), September 2024. 


D.     Organising and Steering Committees

  • 18th International Electric Vehicle Symposium and Exhibition (EVS18), Berlin, October 2000.  
  • IET Power Electronics, Machines and Drives Conference (PEMD), Dublin, April 2006. 
  • 2nd European Ele-Drive Transportation Conference (EET), Brussels, May 2007. 
  • Power Conversion Intelligent Motion, (PCIM), Nuremberg, May 2007. 
  • IET Power Electronics, Machines and Drives Conference (PEMD), York, May 2008, (Conference Vice Chairman). 
  • Power Conversion Intelligent Motion, (PCIM), Nuremberg, May 2008. 
  • 3rd IET Hybrid and Eco-Friendly Vehicles Conference 2008, Warwick, December 2008. 
  • Power Conversion Intelligent Motion, (PCIM), Nuremberg, May 2009. 
  • IEEE Vehicle Power and Propulsion Conference, (VPPC), Dearborn, Sep. 2009. 
  • Power Conversion Intelligent Motion, (PCIM), Nuremberg, May 2010. 
  • 6th International Conference on Integrated Power Electronics Systems, (CIPS), Nuremberg, March 2010. 
  • Power Conversion Intelligent Motion, (PCIM), Nuremberg, May 2011. 
  • 14th European Conference on Power Electronics and Applications (EPE), Birmingham, August/September 2011. 
  • 7th International Conference on Integrated Power Electronics Systems, (CIPS), Nuremberg, March 2012. 
  • IET Power Electronics, Machines and Drives Conference (PEMD), Bristol, April 2012 – International Advisory Panel. 
  • Power Conversion Intelligent Motion (PCIM), Nuremberg, May 2013. 
  • NMI workshop, Power Electronics for the smart home, Newcastle, July 2013. 
  • IET Hybrid and Electric Vehicles Conference 2013 (HEVC), London, November 2013. 
  • PLECS workshop, Modelling and simulation of power electronic systems, Newcastle, March 2014. 
  • Power Conversion Intelligent Motion (PCIM), Nuremberg, May 2014. 
  • Power Conversion Intelligent Motion (PCIM), Nuremberg, May 2015. 
  • 8th International Conference on Integrated Power Electronics Systems (CIPS), Nuremberg, March 2014. 
  • Power Conversion Intelligent Motion (PCIM), Nuremberg, May 2016. 
  • 9th International Conference on Integrated Power Electronics Systems (CIPS), Nuremberg, March 2016. 
  • Power Conversion Intelligent Motion (PCIM), Nuremberg, May 2017. 
  • 11th International Conference on Integrated Power Electronics Systems (CIPS), Stuttgart, March 2018. 
  • 3rd International Electric Vehicle Technology Conference & Exhibition (IEVTech), Bangkok, June 2018. 
  • IEEE International Transportation Electrification Conference and Expo (ITEC), Bangkok, June 2018. 
  • IEEE MTT-S Wireless Power Transfer Conference (WPTC) and IEEE PELS Workshop on Emerging Technologies: Wireless Power (WoW), London, June 2019. 
  • Centre for Power Electronics Annual Conference (CPE), Nottingham, July 2023. 
  • 2nd International Symposium on Sustainable Energy and Technological Advancements (ISSETA), Shillong, February 2023. 
  • Centre for Power Electronics Annual Conference (CPE), Newcastle, July 2024. 
  • IEEE Energy Conversion Congress and Expo (ECCE-Europe), Birmingham, September 2024.  



E. Selected invited presentations at universities outside UK  


  • China: Zhejiang University, Dalian University of Technologies, Xiuha University, North China Electric Power University, Harbin Institute of Technologies, Nanjing Normal University,              Chongqing University 
  • Brazil: Universidade Federal de Goiás 
  • Malaysia: The National University of Malaysia 
  • Germany: RWTH Aachen, Friedrich-Alexander-Universität Nuremberg, Technical University Braunschweig 
  • Canada: Mc Master University 
  • Japan: The University of Tokyo 
  • USA: Massachusetts University of Technology (MIT) 
  • Singapore: Nanyang Technological University  


 

SERVICE AS A REFEREE FOR CONFERENCE PAPERS, JOUNALS AND BOOKS

 

I regularly serve as a reviewer for the following journals and conferences:

 

Springer Publishing House --- IET Circuits, Devices & Systems --- IET Electric Power Applications --- IET Power Electronics --- IET Electronic Letters --- IET Power Electronics, Machines and Drives Conference (PEMD) --- IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems II --- IEEE Vehicle Power Propulsion Conference (VPPC) --- IEEE Industrial Electronics Society Conference(IECON) --- IEEE International Symposium on Industrial Electronics Conference (ISIE) --- IEEE Transactions on Power Electronics --- IEEE Transactions on Mechatronics --- Power Conversion Intelligent Motion (PCIM) --- International Universities' Power Engineering Conference (UPEC) --- Conference on Power Electronics and Applications (EPE) --- The International Journal for Computation and Mathematics in Electrical and Electronic Engineering (COMPEL)--- Institution of Marine Engineering, Science and Technology (IMarEST) --- International Journal of the Federation of European Simulation Societies (EUROSIM) --- International Journal of Electrical Engineering Education (IJEEE), Elsevier Journal of Simulation Modelling Practice and Theory --- Elsevier Journal Applied Energy.

 

SERVICE AS A REVIEWER FOR GRANTS AND PROPOSALS

 

 

  • Engineering and Physical Science Research Council (EPSRC) 
  • Qatar National Research Foundations (QNRF) 
  • Business plans from industries asking for financial support from regional development agencies or other funding organisations. 
  • Singapore National Research Foundation (SNRF) 
  • Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) 
  • German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) 
  • Energy Innovation Programme Office (EIPO-Singapore) 
  • Austria Research Promotion Agency (FFG-Austria) 
  • Irish Research Council 
  • Kuwait Foundation for the Advancement of Sciences (KFAS)  


SERVICE AS EXAMINER


External examiner for the MSc programme Automotive Technology Management at Cranfield University 2011-2014 

 

External examiner for the MSc programme Electrical and Electronic Engineering at University of Sheffield 2014-2019 

 

External examiner for the UG programme Mechatronic at University of Nottingham (China & Malaysia) 2018-2022 

 

External examiner for the UG programme Integrated Mechanical and Electrical Engineering and MEng/BEng in Robotics Engineering at University of Bath 2022-2027 

 

 

Number of internal Ph.D. examinations: 3 

Tushita Abeyasekera, Max Parker, Warren Blewitt 

 

Number of external UK Ph.D. examinations: 17 

Ciprian Antaloae (Cranfield University), Dave Williams (Sheffield University), Peter James (Manchester University), Ponggorn Kulsangcharoen (Nottingham University), Dirk Kok (Sunderland University), Jonathan Davidson (Sheffield University), Ahmed Badawy (Strathclyde University), Xin Zhang (Sheffield University), Attahir Murtala Aliyu (Nottingham University), Jose Ortiz-Gonzalez (Warwick University), Ahmed Al-Karakchi (Northumbria University), Quirin Kellner (Warwick University), Kee B Nam (Sheffield University), Shangjian Dai (Sheffield University),  Nan Zhang (Edinburgh University), Jufei Yang (Bristol University), Mason Parker (Edinburgh University). 

 

Number of international Ph.D. examinations: 3 

Mika Ikonen (Lappeenranta University of Technology, Finland), Annegret Klein-Hessling (RWTH Aachen, Germany), Otto Kreutzer (Friedrich Alexander Universität, Germany). 



ADVISORY PANELS

 

2002 Member of the European Standardization Group for emissions measurements of hybrid electric vehicles. 

2005 Royal Society of Chemistry, White paper on future power drive trains. 

2008-2010 One North East think-tank group for future regional development. 

2009 IET Technical Advisor for TTXGP - World's First Zero Carbon, Clean Emission Electric Bike Grand Prix. 

2009-2012 Performance Test Track Steering Committee. 

2010-2013 IET Power Generation, Conversion and Utilisation (PGCU) professional network Executive Team. 

2010 IET Safety Aspects of Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Steering Group. 

2010-2011 NMI Power Electronics Strategy Group on the White paper “Power Electronics – The UK Strategy” for Mark Prisk, Minister of State for Business and Enterprise. 

2011 North East representative for the Automotive Interest Group at Business, Innovation and Skills/Local Enterprise Partnerships (BIS/LEP). 

2012-2014 International Advisory Board for “Encyclopaedia of Automotive Engineering” book from Wiley Online Library, Online ISBN: 9781118354179. 

2012 Wireless Charging Infrastructure for Electric Vehicles (Technical Insights), D2EA—TI, Frost & Sullivan. 

2012 Study on Disruptive Innovation in eMobility, PRO-INNO Projects (www.grips-public.mediactive.fr) 

2014 Founding member of the IET Power Electronics, Machines and Drives (PEMD) professional network. 

2018 Founding member of the Faraday Institution. 

2019 Contributing Author for the Wireless Power Transfer for Electric Vehicles Task 26 Report written for the Hybrid & Electric Vehicle Technology Collaboration Programme funded by the

International Energy Agency IEA. 

2022 Contributing Author for the white paper: The All-Electric Society - Enabled by Power Electronics, published by the European Centre for Power Electronics (ECPE). 

2022 Contributing member to ISO/PWI 4078-1 NP setting the worldwide standard for conductive road charging. 

2023 Elected to the Steering Board Power Electronics UK – Industry Leadership Group.   

2024 Academic lead on “The UK Power Electronics Opportunity - A strategic position paper for UK industry –“ which was submitted to UKRI, DSIT and BDT.  

 

Research activities published in newspapers/podcast/television (selections)

 

24.9.2009: Smoothing drive to green motoring, The Journal 

25.6.2013: Avid hoping to quadruple its manufacturing capacity, The Journal  

11.6.2014: Support available for business innovation, The Journal 

11.5.2015: Journal Vision 2020, The Engineer 

1.7.2017: UK needs better charging network for electric vehicles, Engineering & Technology 

19.5.2017: TEV Project teams up with Newcastle University to create highways of the future, Scottish Business News 

26.7.2017: Diesel Patrol Ban, BBC News at Five 

8.5.2018: New motorways could see vehicles driving in platoons at 125mph, Design, Products & Applications 

 5.2.2019: Café Scientifique: The Electric Car Revolution, how will it transform our lives? (Podcast)  

 7.3.2019: AVID Learning: Electric Vehicle Technology Podcast, Episode 24, Interview with Prof Pickert (Podcast) 

 15.6.2021: Café Scientifique: Tracked Electric Vehicles (Podcast) 

 3.12.2021: GKN to launch UK eDrive Research Centre, The Engineer, Automotive EV and others press releases 

 30.3.2022: Vehicle Electrification Expo – Twitter: Improving EV Performance  

 17.4.2023: Café Scientifique: Are electric cars as green as we think? 

 16.6.2025: Yorkshire Philosophical Society: Electrifying York”: Urban Electrification: A Breath of Fresh Air or a Hidden Hazard? 



Research

SECURED RESEARCH GRANTS AND CONTRACTS                              

Total Value of Awarded Grants and Contracts: £30.8M      


EPSRC Funding (Total £15,658,832):

Funder - EPSRC & GKN Automotive

Prosperity Partnership (PI) 2024-2026 £1,200,000

Funder - EPSRC (Faraday Institution)

Degradation Detection of Li-ion Batteries (Co-I) 2018-2021 £1,616,282

Funder - EPSRC

A new class of adhesive for a zero-waste economy (C0-I) 2023-2026 £768,796

Network H2 (C0-I) 2019-2023 £966,316

CDT Sustainable Electrical Propulsion (PI) 2019-2027 £5,263,716

Novel Condition Monitoring and Health Management 

Technologies for WBG Power Modules (Local PI) 2017-2020 £231,793

All Electrical Drive Train for Marine Energy Converters 

(EDRIVE-MEC) (C0-I) 2016-2019 £399,988

Underpinning Power Electronics - Integrated Drives(C0-I) 2013-2017 £2,884,382

Novel calorimeter for developing high efficiency permanent 

magnet machines and power converters (C0-I) 2013-2016 £367,225

Vehicle Electrical System Integrations (PI) 2011-2015 £439,686

A collaborative Sino-British project: future reliable 

renewable energy conversion systems & networks (C0-I) 2008-2012 £236,600

High efficient electric converters (C0-I) 2008-2013 £762,626

Novel generator system for series hybrid electric vehciles (PI) 2007-2010 £120,550

Test facility for high speed, high power drives (C0-I) 2006-2009 £200,003

Real time power electronic device junction temperature 

estimation and control (PI) 2001-2004 £200,869


Other Funding (Total £9,904,659):

Funder - DTI

Power Management Systems in electric vehicles (PI) 2006-2009 £158,878

Funder - TSB  Second Generation Hybrid Truck (PI) 2008-2011 £254,484

Free piston engine power drive train generator (PI) 2011-2012 £45,135

High torque density switched reluctance drive system for low carbon vehicles (Co-I) 2011-2014 £287,805

Highly Integrated Power DC/DC Converter (PI) 2012-2015 £192,102

Low Cost Electric Drive Train (Co-I) 2013-2015 £749,685

Highly Integrated Power DC/DC Converter (PI) 2012-2015 £192,102

Low Cost Electric Drive Train (Co-I) 2013-2015 £749,685

EngD  

EngD Comesys Advanced Thermal Management (PI) 2007-2010 £32,500

EngD CTIGBT Thermal Management (PI) 2005-2009 £8,000

EngD HiltechVirtual Fuel Cell (PI) 2008-2012 £40,000

EngD CT High efficient driver circuit for IGBTs (Co-I) 2008-2012 £8,000

EngD Dyson Sensorless Control of Switched Reluctance Machine(Co-I) 2005-2009 £19,333

EngD Sevcon Optimisation for an electric power drive train (PI) 2004-2007 £23,666

EngD Sevcon Control of power electronics (PI) 2003-2008 £34,000

Funder - Siemens  

JFET devcies in drives applications (PI) 2006-2007 £6,000

Funder - ECPE  

Fault tolerant drives (PI) 2006-2006 £5,000

Funder - Henry Lester Trust  

Lifetime estimator for power modules (PI) 2011-2011 £2,500

KTP  

Development of a highly integrated power pack (PI) 2012-2014 £154,257

Development of a highly integrated power pack (PI) 2012-2014 £154,257

KTP TPS - Gate driver circuits (Co-I) 2018-2022 £160,378

Funder - FP7  

Evaluation and Development of Wind Trubine Generator Technologies (Co-I) 2012-2016 £78,285

MABEL research on magnetic bearings (Co-I) 2020-2023 £250,000 

Funder - BIS

Development of high efficiency DC fan and water pump (PI) 2013-2015 £51,336

Funder - Innovate UK

DiSoHM : Direct State of Health Measurement for Power Devices (PI) 2014-2016 £297,879 48

Town & Country Hybrid (PI) 2013-2016 £562,121

KTP Narec (Co-I) 2013-2016 £230,790

Intergrated EV Charger and BMS with Fully Active Balancing (iEV CaB FAB) 2015-2017 £195,139

Infrastructure System 2 DC-DC (Co-I) 2018-2019 £151,363

DER-IC (Co-I) ongoing £2,508,000

Funder - Offshore Catapult

PhD Studentship with Catapult on Healthmonitoring (PI) 2015-2018 £42,000

Funder - APC

High Energy Density Battery (HEDB) (Co-I) 2016-2018 £508,517

NU Institute for Sustainability

Development of new cooling technologies for high power electronics (Co-I) 2016-2016 £22,037

NU Enterprise Team 

Nissan engagement fund (PI) 2016-2017 £10,000

Funder - Changan

PhD studentship with Changan on electric drives simulation (PI) 2016-2019 £30,000

Funder - Philadelphia Scientific   

PhD studentship Tracked Electric Vehicles (PI) 2017-2022 £99,089

Project cash injection Tracked Electric Vehicles (PI) 2017-2022 £25,000

Funder - Horizon 2020

E-LOBSTER: Next generation innovative technologiesenabling smart grids, storage and energy system integration (PI) 2018-2022 £393,938

NU SAgE Faculty

Impact Case Study (PI) 2018-2019 £2,000

PhD Studentships

TMD Technologies Ltd - Smaller, lighter High Voltage converters for Microwave Power Modules (MPMs) (PI) 2018-2023 £85,398 Mining University Ghana - degradation detection techniques of batteries (PI) 2019-2023 £50,000

Dyson - electric machines (Co-I) 2019-2023 £50,000

Compound Semicondcutor Catapult - resonant converters (PI) 2020-2024 £52,000

Tridonic - lighting (Co-I) 2020-2024 52,000

TES - recycling batteries (Co-I) 2022-2026 £56,000

Infineon - GaN drives (PI) 2022-2026 £56,000

NIDEC - EMI of electric drives (Co-I) 2021-2025 £50,000 

Toshiba - cooling techniques for aerospace motors (PI) 2021-2025 £50,000

Funder - GKN Automotive   

GKN Automotive Advanced Research Centre - Core (PI) 2021-2023 £403,890

GKN Automotive Advanced Research Centre - Research (PI) 2022-2023 £596,110

Funder - EPSRC IAA

Impact accelerator on novel battery degradation method (Co-I) 2022-2022 £20,000


Consultancy Funding (project values are confidential): 

Funder Project Title

Grundfos Design of a water pump drive (Co-I) 2003-2004

Control Techniques Design review of a dc drive (PI) 2007-2007

IMRA Europe Cooling technology review (PI) 2007-2008

ITI Scotland Electric Vehicle energy Management System (PI) 2008-2008

South East DoE R&D Grant Assessment - Hybrid Electric Drives (PI) 2009-2009

HilTech Ltd Development of a 60V Li-Ion capacitor module (PI) 2011-2013

Emerson IP Technical Audit (PI) 2012-2012

Amantys Condition Monitoring Algorithm (PI) 2013-2013

Continental Continental Automotive GmbH, Comparison of two 48V Asynchronous Machine Drives (PI) 2019-2019

Toshiba Study on potential electric motors for aerospace applications (PI) 2019-2019

Toshiba Study on aircraft motors (PI) 2019-2020

Teaching

Undergraduate Teaching

• EEE3025 Power Electronics Design & Applications

• EEE3094 UG individual project & technical report

• EEE8114 Industrial Project


Postgraduate Teaching

• EEE8165 Research Skills and Development for Engineers

• EEE8097 MSc individual projects


GENERAL STATEMENT ON TEACHING


Throughout my academic career, I have consistently lectured in the field of Power Electronics. This module has undergone significant evolution over the last 20 years to align with the evolving skill sets required by industry and academia, ensuring it keeps pace with the rapid advancements in the field.


Previously, the "Power Electronics – Design & Applications" module lacked practical design components. Between 2020 and 2022, I radically restructured the curriculum, expanding it from a single-semester to a two-semester module. This expansion allowed for two new sections focusing on design methodologies and selection criteria for power components. To reflect this shift, the module was renamed. I also developed comprehensive handouts and tutorial questions to help students effectively track their progress. The current module is highly innovative, utilizing "flipped teaching" to enhance learning. The novelty addresses natural learning. Students spend their first semester in the laboratory designing, building, and testing bespoke power converters—even with limited initial knowledge. This practical experience provides a foundation for the second semester, where I introduce the underlying theory. This mirrors how children learn—through trial and error. Just as a child learns to build a stable tower before understanding the physics of structures, my students build a physical power converter first. Linking practical experience to subsequent theoretical study is a powerful tool that proves far more effective than the classical "theory-first" approach.


I previously served as the module leader for an MSc Coursework module for nine years and managed the "Advanced Power Electronic Devices" e-learning module for four years (well before the shift to remote learning necessitated by COVID-19). Both modules were revised annually to improve learning outcomes and student engagement. For example I replaced outdated experiments with new labs directly linked to lecture content and modern industrial applications; I ensured all experiments met the latest Health and Safety standards and successfully campaigned for a £50,000 investment from the School for new equipment and I introduced a portfolio-based assessment for fairer grading and moved toward a mix of individual and group work. These changes led to a dramatic increase in student engagement, with attendance rising from 75% to 99%.


Since joining academia, I have supervised numerous undergraduate and MSc projects, several of which have resulted in conference publications. Furthermore, I actively bridge the gap between education and industry by leading projects where students work directly with companies on industry-driven challenges.


The success of my commitment to evolving course materials and teaching methods is consistently reflected in my student feedback, where I regularly achieve high overall ratings.




Publications